As I Lay me Down
by Fly-Away Home
Summary: No one is there to stop Inu-Yasha's demon transformation around Kagome. The results are tragic. (One Shot. PG 13 for violence and langauge.)


A/n: If you don't like tragedy and/or cry terribly at it, this short story might not be one for you. It's kind of - Well - Tragic. Anyways, if you read that and you apply to one or both of those two, don't read it. Otherwise, continue.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Inu-Yasha. If I did, it probably wouldn't be famous, and I probably wouldn't be writing this as a Fan Fiction.

-

I stared down at my hands, blood and flesh cutting beneath my clawed nails. Blood seeped through my clothes as I stare in shock, horror, and pain. How could I have let this happen? What did I do wrong? Clenching my fists, I pounded the ground.

For the many years I've kept this – This demon within me at bay, I've never had complete control over it. No matter how normal a hanyou I seemed on the outside, my insides were fighting a constant battle with the devil. Every time I was around my friends, I'd hold it in, forcing it not to be unleashed.

Butâ€just as my time of weakness cameâ€it broke loose and took it's rage out on anything and everything within its path.

That included her.

-

"Inu-Yasha! Watch out!"

The cry had come from behind me, but by then, I was deaf to the pleading in her voice. My main focus was on the beast that stood within arm length.

"Naraku," I hissed, my eyes flashing dangerously. Outside, I was pissed and vengeful. Inside, I was shaking with tremors of fear. Where were Sango and Miroku? They could've helped! Even that little fox demon, Shippo, could've done something!

But where were they? Gone.

The figure that was Naraku approached me. The sword named Tetsuaiga was clutched within my hands, my knuckles turning white at the pressure I was putting on them. They tightened even more, though, as a smirk appeared on the demon's features. I couldn't hold it in. Raising the sword that was the fang of my father's, I tore into the air.

"Wind sca – " But I was cut off.

The searing hot pain jolted through my torso, tearing through my scarred stomach. My eyes darted to the source of the throbbing: a tentacle protruded from what I suppose was the remains of my stomach. I couldn't tell. There was too much blood.

I heard a faint gasp behind me. I turned to look, but the girl's outline was fuzzy. I couldn't see straight. All I knew was that I was flung high into the air. That was the last thing I remembered, in my sane state of mind, before everything went pitch black.

I heard a faint thump, thump sound. It began growing louder. I opened my eyes to find myself lying in a pool of my own blood: a rather large pool at that. My pupils were dilated, but I could see a hazy figure standing beside what looked like a broken yet large stick. No waitâ€where was the Tetsuaiga? Then I realized what happened.

The thump, thumping became stronger. I could no longer hear past the drums pounding in my ears. I remembered hearing a voice, soft, gentle, and her terrified at the same time. That voice I loved to hear, with the exception of the terrified note.

Then I lost control.

The air around me had begun to shift from a hazy blue to a deep, bloody red. I knew what was happening; yet I was too weak to fight it. Slowly, I slipped under. The beating was too much. He was coming out

The demon within me had awakened and was ready to vent.

-

My eyes became mere purple slits in pools of red. I could feel the pain of my claws, throbbing, stabbing at my skin. They'd elongated, forming sharp, deadly, pinprick tips that would slice even the thickest boulder apart. My cheeks began to burn as deep violet bolts formed in my flesh. I lost all train of sane thought.

I was at his mercy. I couldn't control my actions; I couldn't control my voice. I was a mere play doll within the mind now.

"Naraku," I heard my now vicious voice growl. "You will pay for that."

"Inu-Yasha, no," the same female voice that had spoken before spoke again, though her tone was full of icy fear.

"Shut up, wench!" The growl was fierce and menacing.

Without any control, my mind went blank of all human thought. All I could think of was blood. I must smell blood again. My hands must feel blood again. And the blood couldn't be my own.

With my eyes locked on my target, I launched myself forward. Tetsuaiga or no Tetsuaiga, I would win this fight. The pain in my gut meant nothing now. My mind was set on one thing and one thing alone:

Naraku would pay dearly.

Everything rushed by so swiftly I could barely remember what was going on. My mind raced with images of the dead, blood spurting out of their deceased bodies. Physically, I was mad. Mentally, I was sick. Without the Tetsuaiga, I had no choice but to use my claws.

Charging forward, I grinned evilly. Blood, blood, blood was all I could think. I wasn't even going to try to be reasonable with myself. I was too weak.

Blood poured onto my red Fire Rat suit as I felt the flesh of that who I hated surround my hand. With my hand pointed, I stabbed through Naraku's back. He was already dead on the first impact. I just couldn't stop. My demon side was hungry for blood.

As I tore into the dead carcass with my bare hands, I heard a voice behind me.

"Inu-Yasha! Be reasonable!" It called in its feminine horror. "He's dead already! Leave it be, please!"

I cocked my head in her direction. My eyes narrowed dangerously. With a low growl, I stood up, drenched in blood of my own and blood of Naraku. When the girl saw me, she backed up. I smirked.

"Inu-Yasha, no. Stop, please," she whispered. I kept advancing. "Sit!"

My body slammed with full force into the ground. By then I was angry, and worse than before. I stood up and glared forward. "Bitch, you'll pay for that!"

And that's when it happened.

She screamed a high-pitched scream that made my dog-like ears lie flat against my skull. Blood spilled over my hand yet again. I didn't know what was happening at that time so I didn't stop. Then I heard a murmur.

"Inu-Yasha"

My claws retracted. The purple streaks across my skin on my cheeks faded into the tone color of my skin. My eyes returned to their normal amber color. I looked down at the body lying in front of me. My mouth fell open.

"Kagome."

-

I clenched my teeth, trying to hold back floods of tears. The dams I had built up fell as I felt my cheeks dampen. Yet again, I asked myself those questions. Why me? Why that time? And the most important one: Why couldn't it have been me?

I looked at the body that was Kagome's, the aura of her life slowly fading away. Slowly, I made my way closer to her and picked up her limp form. I knew she'd never been able to hear me. I knew she'd never be able to feel me. But I'd been to late anyways. I hugged her body close and sniffed.

"I love you." I could barely hear my voice whisper. Then I placed my lips upon hers in a short, mourning kiss. She would never again see the light of her own Era.

And it was my entire fault.

I took off my over-shirt and wrapped it around the still bleeding wound where her heart had been. With strength that I didn't have, I lifted her into the air and placed her under the God tree where we'd first met. I wished I didn't have to feel this pain. I know she didn't.

My eyes shifted to everything in the area. I saw Kagome's sash of arrows, still with an aura that surrounded them. Her Miko powers had purified them at one point. Now, with that aura slowly fading away, I pulled up one of the arrows and tapped my finger against the tip.

Sharp.

I leaned up against the tree next to the fifteen-year-old girl's body, praying to all that was good in the time that this would work.

I was once pinned against that tree, trapped in a slumber by a Miko priestess named Kikyo. She had arrows that had been purified that did the deed to me.

Though there was no shooter and no bow, there was a target. I held my breath. With one swift movement, I slammed the arrow through my heart. Instantly, I felt the pain and magic spread through my body. I went limp, pinned to the bark of wood by just that one purified arrow.

With that, I left behind two souls: a Miko and a hanyou, never to be awakened in another light again.


End file.
